13 MULTILINGUALISM
(27051)
14908/05
COM(05) 596
| Commission Communication: A new framework strategy for multilingualism
|
| Legal base | —
|
| Document originated | 22 November 2005
|
| Deposited in Parliament |
29 November 2005 |
| Department | Education and Skills
|
| Basis of consideration |
EM of 20 December 2005 |
| Previous Committee Report |
None |
| To be discussed in Council
| No date set |
| Committee's assessment | Politically important
|
| Committee's decision | Cleared, but further information requested
|
Introduction
13.1 The European Community has 20 official languages. The number
will increase when Irish becomes an official language in 2007
and when Bulgaria and Romania become Member States. In addition,
there are about 60 other indigenous languages as well as the non-indigenous
languages spoken by immigrants. The Commission say that:
"It is this diversity that makes the European Union what
it is: not a 'melting pot' in which differences are rendered down,
but a common home in which diversity is celebrated, and where
our many mother tongues are a source of wealth and a bridge to
greater solidarity and mutual understanding."[40]
13.2 In 2002, the Barcelona European Council called for at least
two foreign languages to be taught to children from an early age.[41]
13.3 The Commission refers to a recent Eurobarometer
survey which showed that half the citizens of the EU claim that
they can hold a conversation in at least one language other than
their mother tongue. At one extreme, 99% of respondents in Luxembourg
and 93% of Latvians and Maltese say that they know at least one
other language compared with, at the other extreme, 29% of Hungarians
and 30% of British people.
The purpose of the Communication
13.4 The purpose of the Communication is to set out
the Commission's strategy for multilingualism. The Commission's
aims are:
- to promote language learning
and linguistic diversity;
- to promote a healthy multilingual economy; and
- to give citizens access to EU legislation and
information in their own languages.
The Communication uses "multilingualism"
to mean the promotion of "a climate that is conducive to
the full expression of all languages, in which the teaching and
learning of a variety of languages can flourish".[42]
The Commission's proposals
13.5 The Communication has an Introduction followed
by separate sections on:
- a multilingual society;
- a multilingual economy; and
- multilingualism in the Commission's relations
with citizens.
Each section describes what is already being done
at EU level (such as funding exchanges of language teachers and
students under the EC education programmes; funding research on
computerised systems to translate languages) and then summarises
action the Commission will be taking and action it invites Member
States to take.
13.6 For example, the action the Commission intends
to take in 2006 to promote a multilingual economy includes:
- publishing a study on the impact
on the European economy of shortages of language skills;
- publishing on the internet a list of language
certification systems available in the EU; and
- organising a conference on translator training
in Universities.
13.7 The Commission invites Member States to:
- establish national plans to
give structure, coherence and direction to action to promote multilingualism;
- review their arrangements for training teachers
of foreign languages;
- review their arrangements for early language
learning;
- raise awareness of the benefits of "content
and language integrated learning" (CLIL) and exchanging information
about best practice and CLIL training for teachers;[43]
and
- review university training programmes to ensure
that they will equip language students with the right skills for
rapidly changing working conditions.
13.8 In conclusion, the Commission:
- invites Member States to report
in 2007 on the action they have taken in response to the Communication;
- announces that the Commission will set up a High
Level Group on Multilingualism to help assess the progress made
by Member States and develop new ideas;
- says that there will be a Ministerial conference
on multilingualism to review progress and plan future work; and
- notes that the Commission plans to issue a further
Communication in the light of Member States' reports and the advice
of the High Level Group.
The Government's view
13.9 The Minister of State for Lifelong Learning,
Further and Higher Education (Bill Rammell) tells us that the
Government wishes to know more about the Commission's intention
to set up a High Level Group to monitor Member States' progress
and, in particular to learn how the monitoring would be done,
how the progress would be reported and what would be the legal
base for the work.
13.10 The Minister also tells us that the five specific
actions the Commission invites Member States to take are consistent
with current policies and work in progress in the UK. For example,
commenting on the invitation to Member States to review their
arrangements for early language learning, the Minister says:
"The cornerstone of the National Languages
Strategy [for England] is the commitment to introduce language
learning for all 7-11 year olds by the end of the decade. Research
for 2002/03 indicated that almost half of primary schools in England
were already teaching some form of languages to their pupils in
this age group. Further research to review this figure is planned
for 2006-08."
He adds that it is unlikely that extra money would
be needed to pay for work on the five actions in the UK. £115
million has already been set aside to promote and develop languages
until 2008 in England, while local education authorities in Scotland
have been provided with £18.5 million to support language
learning and teaching since 2001.
13.11 Finally, the Minister tells us that it is not
yet clear how the Austrian Presidency will deal with the Communication.
He expects that the document will be presented at the Education
Council in February, when there may also be an opportunity to
discuss it.
Conclusion
13.12 In view of the importance of its subject,
we draw the Communication to the attention on the House. We welcome
the Government's intention to seek clarification about the High
Level Group to monitor Member States' progress. We ask the Minister
to tell us what clarification he receives. We do not consider
it necessary, however, to keep the document under scrutiny meanwhile
and, accordingly, we clear it.
40 Commission Communication, page 2. Back
41
Barcelona European Council, 15-16 March 2002, Presidency Conclusions,
part I, paragraph 43.1. Back
42
Commission Communication, p. 3. Back
43
CLIL entails teaching a subject in a foreign language: for example,
teaching French children geography in Spanish. Back
| 
